Thanks to all those going the extra mile
It’s been another busy week in which I’ve been doing my best to assist constituents looking for advice on employment, business support, childcare, school and university studies and travel restrictions to name just a selection. I understand the frustrations of so many trying to compare their myriad of varied personal circumstances with the generic government guidance and support schemes.
Do keep checking back on www.gov.uk as further guidance is updated daily.
On a very personal note I have been dealing with the shock and sadness of my own much-loved father being diagnosed with the Covid-19 virus and passing away late last week in what were very difficult circumstances for all his family.
With the help of my steadfast Parliamentary team I have tried to carry on as much as possible.
I hope that readers will also bear with me at this time.
My thoughts are also with the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and his family. It was heartening to see the outpouring of support and prayers from across the country wishing him a speedy recovery.
We all know he is in good hands with the
NHS and – as he himself would want us to be – I am optimistic that he will soon bounce back as his usual effervescent self.
A privilege of being a Member of
Parliament is to see so many uplifting examples of kind acts and quiet efforts made.
From many village stores to Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars who have loaned out their entire fleet of demonstrators for free, they all deserve our thanks for going the extra mile.
One local business sector to which I have been lending my support is garden centres and plant nurseries, of which we have a great many in West Sussex.
The short shelf-life of plants means that they are unsuitable for long-term stocking, which means an unrecoverable financial squeeze along the whole supply chain.
Due to the plunge in demand following the UK shutdown, the value of lost plant sales in the UK will be an estimated £687million by the end of June and £1.2billion if it continued to the end of December.
It should be possible to carefully re-open garden centres with appropriately strong social-distancing protocols (the same or stronger than those used in supermarkets) and I have written to the Secretary of State asking that they are included on the list of businesses exempt from the lockdown.
As many are finding while being housebound, gardening is a rewarding distraction and a healthy, outdoors pursuit to provide daily exercise and help with mental health.
Perhaps at the very least they could be in the first wave of modifications to the current lock down whenever that comes?